Rep. Tierney to try restoring fisheries aid

U.S. Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., said Wednesday he intends to file an amendment to the Hurricane Sandy relief bill that will include $150 million for fisheries disaster relief.

Steve Urbon

NEW BEDFORD — U.S. Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., said Wednesday he intends to file an amendment to the Hurricane Sandy relief bill that will include $150 million for fisheries disaster relief.

"My amendment takes responsible steps to increase the funds for fisheries disaster relief from $5 million to $150 million — the amount approved by the Senate on a bipartisan basis. The $5 million suggested by House Republicans is insufficient, and we can and should do better," Tierney said in an email to The Standard-Times.

His amendment might face an uphill battle in the GOP-controlled House, however.

Hurricane Sandy made it a double disaster for the already collapsing Northeast fishery but, as it stands, disaster relief as proposed by Congress ranges from slim to none.

Next week, the House Rules Committee is expected to consider two bills providing disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, and possibly the fisheries.

Between the two, they contain the balance of the relief sought in last year's Senate bill.

But only one of them contains any fisheries money, and not much at that.

While last year's Senate relief bill included $150 million for fisheries from the $60 billion total, the current House proposal contains just $5 million.

Tierney, whose district includes Gloucester, said in an email, "After failing to pass the Senate package last week, House Republican leadership is now further complicating the process by offering its own legislation that does not go far enough to help the families and businesses affected by the fishery disasters declared in Massachusetts and other states."

He was referring to last September's declaration by acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank of a fisheries disaster not only in the Northeast but in Alaska (chinook salmon) and Mississippi (oysters).

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick almost a year earlier had asked Commerce for $100 million in disaster aid, but none has been forthcoming.

Alec Gerlach, spokesman for U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., told The Standard-Times that the Senate has not yet decided to reintroduce last year's bill to the current Congress.

In any event, he said, while the bill covers Sandy losses and commercial fishing in several places, it was not specific about who gets what.

New Jersey was particularly hard-hit, including not only commercial fishermen and shoreline processing plants, but also the vast recreational fishery on the shore.

Andrew Fasoli, spokesman for U.S. Rep. John Runyon, R-N.J., told The Standard-Times that "right now, we're just kind of waiting and seeing."

Lauren Amendolara, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., said most members are keeping this close to the vest as they try to determine what has a chance and what does not.

Fasoli said the Rules Committee will accept amendment proposals until Friday afternoon and take up the issue next week.

Tierney said "It is an extremely frustrating and disappointing development when our fishing community has already waited so long to receive this necessary support."

In response to those who view fisheries relief as pork, Tierney said: "The hardships confronting our fishermen are real and urgent. Recent natural disasters in addition to stocks that are not rebuilding have caused too many of our fishermen and their families to face the threat of bankruptcy and the loss of their livelihood."

The office of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., did not immediately have a comment on the fisheries issue.